


not getting any younger

by tkreyesevandiaz



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Presents, Buck and Christopher are Partners in Crime, Caring Evan "Buck" Buckley, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Eddie Diaz, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Soft Eddie Diaz, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23061613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tkreyesevandiaz/pseuds/tkreyesevandiaz
Summary: Eddie's miffed about turning 34, but perhaps it isn't all that bad.Or, Eddie's suspicious of Buck and Christopher's birthday presents, but turns out he has no need to be.
Relationships: Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 44
Kudos: 423





	not getting any younger

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in 20 minutes and edited maybe twice, so forgive any errors. 
> 
> I needed to write a little fluff after how crap my week went BUT here we are!

Buck and Christopher grinned widely at Eddie as they practically vibrated with eager excitement. To be honest, the twin-matching Cheshire grins were kind of creepy. 

Eddie looked at the two suspiciously as he turned the box in his hands all the way around. It was a pretty large box, and heavy too.

“Open it, Dad!” Christopher pushed, giggling with Buck. Eddie’s eyebrows shot up as he looked at the box, holding it at a safe distance from himself. Suddenly, he remembered last year’s birthday fiasco.

“This isn’t going to give me food poisoning this time, is it?”

“That was _one time._ C’mon Eddie, open it already,” Buck groaned at Eddie’s wariness.

“Okay, okay, jeez,” Eddie muttered under his breath as he set the box down in front of him. He ripped off the wrapping paper to reveal a large cardboard box. 

Opening the flap on top let him look straight down into a completely packed space. There was a large jar of some sort in the middle with the round cap peeking out, but all around it, the empty space was stuffed with other trinkets, clothes and a random assortment of chocolate. 

“What is this?” Eddie laughed, pulling out a T-shirt that said his name in big black letters that could probably be read from miles away. Buck and Christopher shared a sly look before taking off their button-down shirts to reveal their own T-shirts.

That’s when Eddie caught sight of the white words printed on the matching black shirts. 

_Eddie Diaz Defense Squad_

Eddie laughed out loud at the sheer ridiculousness of the entire proposition but stripped his own T-shirt in favour of the birthday gift.

“When we go out for dinner tonight, we have to wear these so everyone knows we’re going to protect you,” Christopher said as seriously as he could. Eddie stifled his laughter and agreed. Buck, on the other hand, had no such qualms as he let out a booming laugh.

“Right, protect Mr. Army-Medic over here. He’s more dangerous than the two of us combined,” Buck told Chris, the two privately sharing an inside joke. Eddie rolled his eyes and moved on to the next present.

The next thing he pulled was a slim box full of his favourite caramel toffee. Coincidentally, they were Christopher’s favourite too, so if Buck had helped him, it was reasonable to expect that there was another box of candy hiding somewhere else. The knowing look that he gave Buck and the sheepish grin he received in return only confirmed it.

Eddie worked his way around the central jar to pull out a large teddy bear with “Happy Birthday, Eddie” written on its stomach, an apron with Christopher’s hand prints over them and an ironic message “Hands Off The Cook!” That had been an inside joke between the three of them as well, after a barbecue with too many burned burgers and a put-off Buck ribbing him for it.

There were also a few photo frames with pictures of Eddie and Christopher, one large frame of Eddie, Buck and Christopher and a chain with a military dog-tag that had words engraved on it. 

_Station 118  
_ _Firefighter Eddie Diaz_  
_I’ve got your back G.I. Joe_  
-Evan

Eddie brushed his fingers over the metal just as he felt a familiar pressure burn behind his eyes. He looked up to see his best friend smiling at him softly, a self-conscious shrug in his demeanour. 

It was weird to see Buck so shy, yet it squeezed at his heart. 

Knowing how horrible he was with words, he pulled the chain over his head instead, hoping it would say something akin to what he was feeling. 

“There’s more!” Christopher leaned over to peek inside the box. 

“This is a lot, guys, how...” Eddie trailed off as emotion strangled his voice. In this space, he wasn't afraid of being vulnerable.

“Bucky and I went to the mall last weekend and got some of this. Some of it we made at home,” Christopher explained. Eddie looked over at Buck to see him looking smug, probably at them having been able to keep this a secret for that long. Otherwise, these two were notoriously the worst people to keep secrets.

The last thing before the jar was a large, decorative pillow. The pillow was outlined by a diamond-patterned border that enclosed some text. Eddie pulled it out to read “I love you, Daddy. Happy birthday!” embellished in the white space in his son’s handwriting.

“Oh, thank you, Christopher.” This time, he felt his eyes get damp with tears. He pulled the boy into his lap, hugging him close.

Eddie set the pillow down on the floor, noticing Buck hesitate as he opened his mouth to say something. “What?”

Buck clamped his mouth shut and shook his head, the relaxed smile returning to his face. “Nothing, open the last present!”

Eddie looked at him for a heartbeat more, noting how Buck’s smile didn’t fully reach his eyes; not like before. 

Christopher’s shuffling around in his lap got him distracted, though, and he turned his attention back to the last thing in the box. 

“Wasn’t this that container of almonds I tossed out last week?” Eddie recognized the shape immediately, covered in paint and misshapen stickers as it was. 

“Yeah, Chris and I re-purposed it,” Buck said, moving to sit on the ground next to them. “Don’t worry, it’s completely clean and disinfected.”

The glass jar was covered in blue paint with “Happy Jar: Year 34” painted in white letters. Eddie wrinkled his nose a little at his age being put on there. 

Buck chuckled as if he knew what Eddie was thinking, earning a beam from Christopher. 

Eddie twisted the cap off to reveal a stack of index cards and a sharpie marker. He looked confusedly between Chris and Buck. 

“What is this?”

“It’s a happy jar!” Chris exclaimed, pulling out an index card. “See, you write about the things that made you happy this year, and then on your next birthday, you can look over everything and be even happier!”

“It helps you look at the positive things and encourages you to look for happiness,” Buck explained further. 

That was one of the things Eddie was working on in therapy; not waiting for the other shoe to drop and to actively seek positivity around him. He’d shared it offhandedly with Buck once, and seeing the younger man paying attention to the details had him feeling... _loved_. 

Eddie was stunned into silence. He looked down at the jar, and back up at the two most important people in his life. 

This time, he reached forward and pulled Buck into the tiny cuddle pile that he and Chris had started. Buck’s long arms came to wrap around the two of them, holding the two tightly to his body.

Buck’s hugs were like that; he hugged you with everything he had and it made Eddie, who was not normally keen on hugs, feel warm and cozy inside.

“Thank you, for such an amazing present,” Eddie told them, his heart swelling with pure joy for the first time in a while. Buck and Christopher high-fived as they settled back on the ground. 

Eddie bit his lip before pulling out an index card and writing “Buck and Christopher’s birthday presents” on it. 

“There, that’s my first happiness of this year.” Eddie raised an eyebrow at Chris. “Where did you get the idea for one of these?”

“We didn’t know what to get you so we pitched in together and started looking through Pinterest.” Buck waved his phone. 

“So that’s what all the giggling was about,” Eddie glared playfully at them. As if on cue, Christopher giggled loudly, tilting into Buck's side. 

“It was meant to be a surprise, silly.” 

“Well, it was a great surprise, thank you for making this birthday special. Both of you.” Eddie shared one last, wide grin with them before he got up and dusted his pants off, placing all the loose items back in the box to carry into his room. He balanced the pillow on top before carrying it off, the sounds of Buck and Chris celebrating their success following him. 

He laughed to himself at those two, so content to just _enjoy_ this moment. Before Buck, Eddie’s birthday hadn’t really been a huge thing. Firstly, there hadn’t been time to celebrate, not to mention money shortages. Christopher and Eddie would go out for a quiet dinner, Christopher would make him a card that he treasured above everything else, and that would be the end of that. 

It seemed that Buck was adamant on making each of them unique, from here on out, and had roped Christopher into his shenanigans. The mere thought made Eddie’s heart want to explode out of his chest, even though he resisted anything that told him of his increasing age.

The distraction ensured that Eddie didn’t see his door until it smacked him in the face. Eddie cursed to himself quietly as he stubbed his toe on the door frame, jostling a few items out of his hold. Hopping in pain to his bed, he sat down and started rubbing the toe, trying to dissipate the horrible feeling. That’s when he caught sight of the pillow. 

There was more writing on the back that was most decidedly not Christopher’s. Eddie picked it up to brush his fingers over the familiar script, not believing the three words.

“Hey Eddie, where did you want me to put...” Buck’s voice trailed off as Eddie looked up at him with no-doubt a stricken expression plastered on his face. Buck glanced at the pillow clenched in Eddie’s hands, before looking back at him. 

The two men faced each other in the tense silence. Eddie was still frozen in place while Buck looked to be warring with himself about what to say. 

“Eddie, I-" Buck wasn’t given a chance to finish, because Eddie got up and yanked him into the room, kissing him fiercely. 

Buck surrendered to him immediately, kissing him back with equal vigor. The kiss was fire and water all at once, branding itself in Eddie's soul but cleansing him just the same. That was Buck; every element Eddie needed to _live._

Eddie pulled away first, beaming at his best friend. 

“I love you too,” Eddie whispered softly, trailing the tips of his fingers along Buck's jaw. The younger man's lips stretched into a grin. 

“I didn’t know how to confess it to you,” Buck admitted, wandering fingers scratching over Eddie’s stubble. 

“You didn't even have to. I should've been the one to confess to you, because you tell me in a thousand ways that you love me,” Eddie said quietly, pressing his fingers to the inside of Buck’s wrist. It seemed that now that he had the permission to touch Buck freely, he couldn't get enough of it.

Buck laughed. “Yeah but you’re dense. You needed me to spell it out for you.”

“Hey, no bullying the birthday boy.” Eddie glared at him. That only made Buck laugh more.

“Hate to break it to you, man, but you’re not a boy anymore. You’re an old man now.” 

“Thirty-four is not old, Buck.”

“I dunno Edmundo, thirty-four sounds pretty old to me. You're not getting any younger over there.” Buck stuck his tongue out before sashaying out of the room. Eddie jaw dropped at the _audacity_.

“I’m not old!”

As Buck’s “la-la-la-la” traveled through the house, intermingled with Christopher’s shrieks of joy, Eddie couldn’t help but think that perhaps, turning thirty-four wasn’t that bad at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos make my day! There might be a second part to this, about them going out to dinner.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at [zeethebooknerd](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/zeethebooknerd) or on Twitter at [tkreyesevandiaz](https://twitter.com/tkreyesevandiaz).


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